1
June McRaeJune McRae was born on May 1926 in Toronto, Ontario to Elsie and Sam Pyper; she was their only child. The family moved to Kirkland Lake in 1939 when Sam was transferred from North Bay to the Canada Bread Company unit in Kirkland Lake. She was 13 years old at the time and has resided here ever since then.
June was married to Al McRae, who passed away in 1985. The couple had two children, daughter Irene and son David. Irene is the principal of "St. Mildred Lighthouse All Girls Private School" in Oakville, Ontario. David, a Mechanical Engineering Designer, is project manager of Porcupine Engineering Services in South Porcupine, Ontario. June's granddaughter, Kara Vinna, (husband Steve) is the mother of Emma, age 12 and Jonathan, age 7.
June worked as an Administrative Secretary for the Kirkland Lake Board of Education, which she retired from in 1991.
2
In 1943, the Figure Skating Club was formed and one of its first students was June Mc Rae. She was coached by Beryl Goodman, the very first teacher. According to June, prior to its official acceptance as a Canadian Figure Skating sanctioned club, the fledging group had been instructed informally by Marian Little and Ernie Deloye.June joined the club executive in order to support her daughter's interest in figure skating. She served as club president from 1967 to 1970. She became one of the most respected and sought after skating judges in the Northeastern region. She spent many hours volunteering at test days and competitions from Hearst to Gravenhurst, Ontario and eastward as far as Sault Ste. Marie. Acting as a judge could be trying; judges need to provide their own transportation while the host club occasionally arranges lodging. The judges are reimbursed for mileage, meals and lodging costs. Judging takes place throughout the entire year. Winter roads can be treacherous and because judging usually takes place on weekends, many weekend hours are spent away from home.
June officially retired from judging in September 2010 after nearly 50 years of service and received many well deserved awards. If you ask her why she is so dedicated to this volunteer work she will tell you she loves being around the young skaters and that it gives her great pleasure to see how each child progresses from year to year. She judges as fairly as she can because each child's progress depends on her recognition of whether the child is ready to progress on to the next level or needs to become more competent at his/her present level. She is sensitive to the fact that some of the young skaters are often much more capable than they appear on test day. Although she knows this she also sees the value of each child learning to cope in difficult situations as he/she grows up. She has donated a trophy to the Kirkland Skating Club in honor or her daughter Irene. This trophy is to be given to the most artistic intermediate or senior skater.
3
June keeps herself busy with other volunteer activities. She worked for many years in the hospital gift shop and now is a frequent visitor to those who are long term residents at Extendicare. She also sells daffodils for the Cancer society each year. |
 |
 |
 |